Euronews

Iran’s President has embarked on a trip to Latin America to seek support against tough new Western sanctions on the Islamic state..

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua. It comes days after Tehran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

Despite growing pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear work, senior Iranian officials say an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow will soon be open. According to Iranian media, the site is deep inside a mountain near the Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom.

The EU and the United States claim Iran is trying to build bombs, but Tehran insists its atomic programme is aimed at generating power.